As it happens, I'm calling a regular contra evening in a few weeks and I'm
going to experiment, right off the top of the beginner session, by playing
a tune (i.e. start music, then say "welcome")
https://youtu.be/O0AW6MQXX0Y
(Don't worry, the 3/4 quickly changes to jigs. I've listened to many tunes
to accompany this idea - Pop, Motown, Celtic - and this tune seems to
provide the musicality and the clear phrasing useful for this exercise, and
continuity with what they'll hear while dancing later.)
have the dancers listen for phrasing and then (repeating) in a big circle
holding hands:
L/R 8
F/B 8
L4/R12
F2/B2/R4
L OR R 6/2 the other way.
i.e. introduce them to a few ways of slicing up a musical phrase in ways
they will encounter with contra figures.
Finish off with a maze of F/B/L/R 8 OR 16
My contention/hope/observation is that I have never seen an intro session
that actually introduces new dancers to the music and, therefore, they have
no connection between music and figures when the band actually starts
playing later. My hope is that, by first laying a musical foundation, the
newbies will try to sync the movements they learn to the music they heard
first.
We'll see.
this idea might work for your situation.
On Sat., Aug. 17, 2019, 16:16 , <callers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
wrote:
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Today's Topics:
1. Brain Dead - Need Suggestions (Linda S. Mrosko)
2. Re: Brain Dead - Need Suggestions (David Harding)
3. Re: Brain Dead - Need Suggestions (Bob Peterson)
4. Re: Brain Dead - Need Suggestions (Winston, Alan P.)
5. Re: Brain Dead - Need Suggestions (Colin Hume)
6. Re: Brain Dead - Need Suggestions (Woody Lane)
7. Re: Brain Dead - Need Suggestions (jim saxe)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2019 23:40:27 -0500
From: "Linda S. Mrosko" <elmerosko(a)gmail.com>
To: Callers List <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Subject: [Callers] Brain Dead - Need Suggestions
Message-ID:
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Although I've been calling forever and I know things, I'm not currently
inspired to do this and am asking for help.
Been hired to lead a dance for a music school -- ages 5 and up to teens and
their parents and my contact asked if I could lead "dances that encourage
really paying attention to beat counts?.throw in some music education in
addition to fun."
So I'll do my standard ONS dances for this group to recorded music that has
very good beat counts and distinct phrasing. That's not the problem. The
problem is *"throw in some music education." *I don't need a
dissertation,
just bits and pieces. The dance is only 1-1/2 hours long followed by ice
cream.
I've got a job that keeps me pretty busy and am training for a new job
that's taking up a lot of my time and I just can't think anymore.
Any suggestions?
--
*Looking forward,Linda S. Mrosko*
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